The present invention relates to a splicing aid for connecting component belts, preferably belts which house electronic SMDs (Surface Mounted Devices) and which feed the components to "pick-and-place" component handlers or the like, the belts having regularly spaced guide holes in a lateral track.
Printed circuit boards are usually fitted with components, in particular with electronic SMDs, using automatic component fitting machines operating according to the so-called "PICK-AND-PLACE" principle. To permit a high fitting speed, the components are ready made in belts, for example with so-called plastic blister packing or in stable cardboard strips having recesses, and are fed to the pick-and-place component handler head. With such belts, the machine can be continuously operated for the most part. However, problems frequently occur at the end of the belt, when the end of a first belt has to be connected to (i.e., "spliced to") the start of a second belt.
Splicing aids have been proposed in which one belt end and one start of a belt are fixed with their guide holes in pins. Splicing is then achieved by laying a first adhesive strip underneath the abutting belt sections and by laying a second adhesive strip above the abutting belt sections. Adhesive strips of this kind are constructed, for example, as special adhesive strips with divided carrier material having guide holes with the grid dimensions of the pins of the aid.
Unfortunately, the previously known device is comparatively awkward to handle. Consequently, in practice the component belts are frequently connected (spliced) manually without an aid. However, faults are inevitably associated with manually produced splices because of imprecise grid dimensions, because of a laterally protruding adhesive strip and/or because the belts become twisted or angled with respect to one another.
The object of the present invention is to provide a splicing aid for connecting component belts which does not require additional aids and which permits the component belts to be connected in a practical way.